Our History

In the late 1980s, Freddie Perkins, the head of the Bearded Butchers family, stumbled upon a classified ad for a rancher-for-hire in the local newspaper. The ad was to care take a herd of bison and soon he found himself raising American bison. After a short time, Freddie purchased the herd, and Whitefeather Bison Company was born. The Perkins family had a long history in Ohio, dating back to the early 1800s when they settled in the Ohio river valley and operated a trading post. They even had a tradition of receiving a white feather above their door as a sign of peace with the Native American population. So, when they started raising North America's native bovine, the name Whitefeather made perfect sense.

Freddie and his family built a rustic log cabin to sell the bison meat they were raising. They continued to have their bison butchered at a local butcher shop until 1994, when they purchased the butchery and moved their production, processing, and sales under one roof. With the help of the younger Perkins family members, the business grew quickly to include beef, pork, chicken, lamb, elk, venison, wild boar, ostrich, and more. This was where Seth and Scott learned the art of butchering from start to finish, skills they would later use to teach others through their YouTube channel and social media.

Despite the success of their custom butchering service, after over 20 years of back-breaking work, the brothers realized they wanted more. In 2016, they made the difficult decision to end the custom butchering service and focus on butchering only for their retail store as well as spend more time growing their brand. They centered their focus on this as well as their proprietary spice blend, which Seth had concocted in 2012 and used on the meats they sold at Whitefeather Meats, their butcher shop. They started posting videos of their butchering skills on social media, and their audience quickly grew, filled with like-minded carnivores eager to learn the art of butchery.

Now, the Bearded Butchers remain proudly family-owned, with Seth and Scott sharing the CEO responsibilities and the third generation of Perkins family members and an excellent team of employees helping support and grow the brand. Now shipping products all across the nation as well as internationally, The Bearded Butchers continue to grow the dream of bringing butchery and spices to every Carnivore's table. Their story is a testament to the Perkins family's perseverance, hard work, and commitment to quality. It all started with a classified ad and a daring idea, and now they are a thriving business with a passionate following.